


Fire

by tommysinful



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Hurt Niall, Niall-centric, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-20 05:21:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4775222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tommysinful/pseuds/tommysinful
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall's house goes up in flames and no one can find him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire

BEEP BEEP BEEP

It rang loud through the halls and the marble floors made it reverberate to bounce off the mirrors and superhero memorabilia adorning the walls. The detector was shrill and piercing in the once quiet home and a very tired Niall Horan rolled over groaning. At first he tried to ignore it but it was so high pitched that even he couldn’t sleep through that-and Niall could sleep through anything-so he cursed out loud and threw his blanket off him to find the creator of the annoying beeping.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Niall was still half asleep opening his bedroom door and he smelled something funny…it smelled like smoke. And it wasn’t even cigarette smoke, he knew that smell since Zayn, but this was thicker and more alarming. He quickly walked down the hallway and down the stairs to where most of the room was murky with black smoke billowing into it.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“FUCK!” He yelled out and as he sprinted towards where he believed it to be coming from, he stopped wide eyed to see his kitchen in flames. Not just even a tiny fire, no, the entire room was ablaze. The counters and cabinets were alight, the smell acrid of smoke and paint. Embers flew about the room and thick smoke rolled up onto the ceiling.

“FUCK!” He yelled again in panic because everything was going up and it was starting to blacken the doorway he stood in, the heat was intense and seeped into his body making his blood warm faster as it sped through his veins while his heart thundered in his chest. He remembered the fire extinguisher he had…under the sink in the kitchen. He quickly ran into the inferno and his eyes watered and his lungs ached due to the smoke now staining the insides of him. He choke and spluttered with the oxygen in the room being consumed faster than he could inhale it and he could barely see, the only good thing was that the fire now eating away at his home was bright so he could make out vague shapes of what his home was.

He hissed in pain and screamed trying to pull open the cabinet that was busy being licked by the flames but he couldn’t pry it open, the cans and boxes in the cupboards began exploding and blasting the drawers open above him, showering him with sparks and left large burns across his bare back and thighs that shone an angry color then began to blister almost immediately.

“GOD DAMMIT!” He yelled as the searing pain sunk into his skin that was now abused and raw, now trying to move his arms caused the blisters to rupture and explode and he looked as if he was diseased or maimed, he tried to pull open the door again and finally-since he was already in so much pain anyway-decided to just grab the handle and yank it open.

The white hot metal peeled his skin off for him and he began to cry because his flesh was now stuck to the handle and not on him. He peered inside to see the fire had started to lap under the sink and he quickly grabbed the extinguisher but noticed what occupied the space as well…

The cleaning products. FUCK.

He grabbed the solid red canister and pushed away to stand up with his eyes blurry and hand in excruciating pain, he tried to pull the pin but each time he tried to grasp it the damaged hand would cause him to wince in protest, “For fucks sake!”

He set it down on the floor in a scurry and placed it between his feet to pull it out with the other hand and it worked, he lifted up the extinguisher again and with his damaged hand held the end of the hose and with the other pressed the nozzle. Thick white foam came flying from the end and he quickly began to douse his kitchen with the flame retardant substance and it seemed to be working as some of the counter became visible and it’s once shiny surface was charred and flaky.

BEEP BEEP BEEP could be heard through the roar of the flames and the creaking of the house.

He started from up top where the cupboards were hanging halfway from the wall and one even crashed on top of the stove making him jump and narrowly avoid being crushed by it as it rolled from on top of the stove to the floor, he worked his way around the room and was in mid turn when something exploded and an object, white hot and heavy, flew and struck him in the legs sending him straight to the ground, the chemicals under the sink had exploded and caused the fragile doors blocking them to fly off their hinges and sweep Niall off his feet.

He crashed to the floor and his chest make a sickly slap against the marble, Niall looked up to see that the kitchen was still roaring away and the small bits he had put out weren’t even a dent because now the fire had moved outside of the kitchen into the dining room where the pictures and furniture were alight as well. The ceiling was dingy from the fire while his belongings were turned to ash and he had no choice but to run.

He shakily stood up because that damn cabinet had royally fucked up his knees-especially the already damaged one-and it was more than painful and difficult trying to hobble from the room and to safety. He had to minutely skip around where the carpet had started to burn and he began to trip, the pain in his knees and hand and all over the back of his body becoming too much, his lungs filling with chemically laden smoke and heat was choking him, his eyes squinting not seeing much of anything.

He coughed and tried to see through the smoke, his skin was red and tender, the blisters on his back and thighs were oozing and trapping soot inside them making them sting and the heat surrounding him had him crying in anguish. His one hand felt like it was in fact on fire, the remaining skin hanging from his bloody and dripping palm while his knees were swelling and getting harder and harder to move.

“Help! Help me please!” He tried to call out knowing that no one could actually hear him. Not over the incessant beeping of the detector near the base of the stairwell, the roar of the fire engulfing his house and he had no neighbors within a hundred feet, Niall was alone.

He continued to work his way through and around the enflamed furniture and he began crying harder, not only from the bombardment of smoke to his eyes, but also because his home was literally going up in smoke. His prized possessions like his guitars, memorabilia, memories he held onto from his few short years together with the boys were turning into nothing but dust and charred remains.

“Help!” He sobbed out he turned hearing a loud CRACK come from behind him. When he turned halfway through the living room, the kitchen had collapsed in a bright show of fire and heat, the ceiling caving in and what was his “play” room fell into it. All his old video game machines, the pool table, everything. It all came crashing through the ceiling and the fire in the kitchen increased tenfold with new kindling.

BEEP BEEP BEEP came through, shrill and piercing to mix with the sounds of his home crumbling around him.

He turned back to try and hobble out, only a bit more to go to get there, out the door and to safety. His knees were locking up, the muscles shaking in protest and edema, the fluid now packing the joints making them seize up and with one more step and a crippling bolt of pain up through his body Niall fell.

He hit the hardwood floors and screamed in agony, his already sore and swollen knees coming down hard into the unforgiving material, “FUCK! HELP! FUCKING HELP ME!”

He tried to crawl along the floor, the dining room now looking much like the kitchen did when he exited it, completely consumed in flames and said flames were now working their way into the living area where Niall was slowly and painfully crawling on the floor making no real advancement in his crippled state.

Thankfully the room was large enough that Niall still had a bit of time before his untimely death reached him. He cursed himself for having such a large home and thought that he should’ve gotten something smaller and simpler than this grand mansion with the multiple bedrooms when he was the only one living here. And hell, he was only here for a month or two at a time.

He should’ve gotten a house that was more suitable for one young man, one that if it did go up in flames, he could escape it easily. Not one where it took fifteen minutes to go from one side to the other. The fire was creeping up on him now, the back part of his house was a sea of red and heat, bright and powerful, damaging and wrathful.

He had to resort to crawling on his elbows since his hand was blistering over but it didn’t last for too long until it burst sending more waves of agony through him, his back already damaged was tight and stinging and each movement would cripple him further, the pain causing his body to throb. Everything hurt now, his knees, his back and thighs, his hand. Not to mention he had to close his eyes and crawl blindly around, the smoke had irritated them so much he couldn’t open them so he had to use his memory to get out.

BEEP BEEP BEEP was loud over his head.

He knew that the large sofa was near him to his left and then there was the hallway that lead to the front door, he didn’t have much longer to go but at his snail pace crawl it could’ve very well been miles away. Niall’s lungs ached and he continued to cough at the inhalation of the foul smoke, he heard the same sort of CRACK sound behind him and didn’t even turn to see what was his dining room collapse and take one of the bathrooms upstairs with it. The only good thing was that the pipes broke so some of the inferno was doused by the water spraying out.

Wasn’t enough to help Niall though, the room he was in was picking up speed in being burned, the entire doorway to the other caved in room was sagging and creaking and popping, that part would cave soon. The furniture like his sofa and guitars and electronics were all hissing as the fire warped the plastic and wires caught alongside the blaze, the heat was scalding and his skin burned, his hair beginning to smoke having embers from above fall on to him. His already marred back was being dusted with more embers and he could only twitch due to the pain, his body didn’t have much more fight left.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

He coughed some more and finally made it to where he thought the hallway entrance was but was met by a wall, now he had to blindly feel around for the doorway, both his hands scraping against it scrambling to find the exit, his damaged hand making him whimper in protest as the tears fell down to sizzle on the floor and disappear as soon as they had plummeted. Niall’s body was shaking with hurt, his mind racing and trying to combat the protests of his muscles and skin to tell him to stop but the panic of getting out making him frantic and thrash as well as he could on the floor.

The detector still going strong with the BEEP BEEP BEEP

He heard the crash of the doorway that was too close to him, his lungs choked and starved for air, every nerve in his body on red alert and throbbing in pain, “Help.” he croaked out and as the ceiling caved in behind him, his head fell to the floor with a dull thud and the ‘beeps’ of the detector distant to his ears.

XXXX

It was with a frantic shoving and screaming that Louis was awoken.

“LOUIS GET UP! GET UP! IT’S NIALL!” He heard Harry screaming into his face and his smaller body being thrown about on the mattress.

“Harry s’matter?” He grumbled out and rubbed his eyes and slapped Harry’s large hands away from where they kept shaking Louis’ shoulders like he was a maniac or something.

“It’s Niall! His house burned down!” Harry sounded frantic and Louis shot up to see Harry’s eyes were wide and glassy, his cheeks puffy and lips cherry red.

“What!” Louis sprang from the bed and heard the small whimpers come from Harry in front of him and he walked into the living room of their shared flat to see it on the news, there was Niall’s house, well what was left of it. Only a small part of the one side still looked like a house but the roof had all but caved in, the insides twisted and black, nothing was recognizable.

Louis instinctively curled into Harry’s bare side, the warmth of his skin the only comfort and as his long arm wrapped protectively around Louis’ shoulder a voice came through the television, “We have been told that the blaze at pop star Niall Horan’s home began around three to four this morning. Firefighters were called to the scene when the young man’s smoke detector, thankfully in operating order, alerted the local station and the men were soon in action. When firefighters arrived they were met with what one called “a literal inferno” and they quickly made work of putting the house out.”

Louis’ breath hitched and he squeezed Harry’s waist tighter and looked up to see that there were a few silent tears staining his cheeks, he leaned up and kissed them away, “He’ll be alright Hazza.”

“Did you call his phone?” Louis asked looking up. Harry nodded and mumbled, “Went straight to voicemail, did it ten times.”

They turned as one of the firefighters came up on the screen, the ugly remnants of Niall’s home-where all the boys had spent many a fun time-look mangled and foreign, “Well when we got here the whole house was just one huge ball of fire. We couldn’t even get in through the front door. As you can see we’re just finishing putting it out now, we haven’t had to deal with something like this in a long time. We didn’t find any body yet so we’re hoping Mr. Horan wasn’t home. He’s lucky if he wasn’t because no one could survive that.” He pointed behind him and the screen cut back to the anchor who started on about another story saying they’d touch back with the cause of the fire and the whereabouts of Niall.

Harry hiccupped and pulled Louis into a real hug this time, his long arms wrapped around the boy’s head, “Lou, what happened to him?”

“I don’t know love, maybe he wasn’t there.” Louis’ voice came out muffled against his smooth chest, he had to tap on Harry’s elbow to let him go since he couldn’t breathe now.

Harry began to sob softly, “But-but he was home remember? We invited him out af-after the voice practices but he-he went home instead to watch the game.”

Louis then remembered it. The two of them invited the rest of the boys out to go dancing and stretch their legs out then maybe grab a bite to eat, Liam wasn’t feeling well so Zayn escorted him home then probably sulked off to wherever Zayn went and Niall declined because he just wanted to relax at home, watch the game and get a good buzz going.

The last time they saw him was when they were leaving the session and Niall was getting into his car, there was a wave and “I’ll see you mates later” and then he took off. Louis’ head snapped up, “His car, did you see it?”

“Um, I think so yeah…” Harry trailed off trying to remember if the aerial shot of Niall’s scorched mansion showed the driveway that should have held his vehicle. It did.

“Yeah, his car was still there.” Harry said softly and Louis watched the sadness over take his eyes and his lip being pulled into his teeth. Louis knew what was coming next. Harry’s face crumpled, he sniffled a bit and then the fat sobs echoed throughout their home, Louis held onto him as he dropped to the floor.

“Shhh Haz, he’s okay baby, he’s okay. Maybe he made it out love.” Louis cooed to him and tried his hardest to hold back his tears. He was fearing the worst, Niall was somewhere in that wreckage and was no longer Niall anymore. Just a burnt body or even worse, his body was incinerated and Niall was no more, nothing to hold onto. He had to be strong now-Louis always was, every time something like this happened-he was the strong one. The one who held up for everyone else.

“L-lou he’s go-gone.” Harry cried out and his breath became erratic while Louis kissed his curls and let a few of his tears fall to nestle in dark hair. He rocked him back and forth and rubbed circles between his shoulder blades, “Shhh Harry, this is our Niall, he’s fine love. Probably went out and got pissed and passed out at someone’s house. It’s alright.”

There was a knock at the door and Louis regretfully let Harry’s quivering form slump forward to wail into the carpet, he wiped his eyes and took a deep breath to face whoever was on the other side. Opening it he saw Liam. His big brown eyes were bloodshot and his normally plump bottom lip was twice its size, tear tracks stained his cheeks and behind him stood Zayn who looked almost as bad but Louis knew Zayn was doing what he was.

Staying strong for the other one, Harry and Liam would break down first, they were the most vulnerable of the whole group so Zayn and Louis stayed strong and stoic for them.

“Ni-Niall…” Liam stuttered out and Louis just opened his arms to have Liam’s much larger body slam into him and knock the air from his lungs. He shushed him much like he did with Harry who was currently behind him still on the floor, his body shaking and Zayn nodded to Louis and walked past to address his fallen comrade on the floor.

“Shhh love, Niall’s okay, he’s always okay.” Louis purred to him and tried to not let his voice show the worry in it, he was telling the two blubbering young men something he was forcing himself to believe because Niall couldn’t be gone. Louis wouldn’t allow that even though he had no control over the situation, which he usually almost always did, but this time he’d use his persuasive abilities to make sure Niall was still alive.

He heard a slam of a door and turned to see Zayn rubbing the back of his neck and blowing out a huff of breath and looking up at the ceiling, “Harry’s just gone back to your room.”

Louis nodded as he petted through Liam’s short hair and ushered him inside since they were in the open doorway with a half naked Louis holding onto a whimpering Liam. He pulled them into the kitchen and they both sat at the bar area that faced towards the large window and food preparation areas, the sky outside was a steel gray and soft rain patted against the window.

Louis looked at the clock to see it was only nearing seven am which meant that the fire had happened mere hours ago as everyone was safe in their own beds. Louis then took in his two friends who sat on the stools, Liam was in a onesie and if this situation wasn’t so horrifying he’d find it funny, Zayn was in sweat pants and a hoodie shivering in his slippers.

“You fancy a cuppa?” He asked them, his voice much louder in the eerie silence of the flat, Liam jumped and nodded biting his lip, Zayn bowed his head slightly as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and asked Louis politely if he minded, Louis waved him off and even took one for himself and had Zayn light it, Liam’s eyes widened.

“Don’t start, I don’t smoke and don’t plan on making it a habit. I only do it when I’m like this, all stressed and shit.” He offered back to his puffy eyed stunned friend.

“Oh, okay.” Liam gave him a soft reply and sniffed again. Louis kissed the top of his head holding the smoking stick away from his friend then turned to put the kettle on. The silence was deafening, only Harry’s cries from down the hallway could be heard in random intervals but they were muffled and came in spurts. Louis took a deep drag of the cigarette and flicked the ash in the sink as he began pulling out eggs and sausages from the freezer and the pans necessary for what he wanted to do.

“Lou, what are you doing?” Zayn asked him as he stood up and shuffled along the cool floor to meet the older by the stove. “Making breakfast, might as well. You’re all here anyway and we should eat.” He shrugged.

“We’re not all here.” Liam mumbled out as he picked at his cuticle, something he did when he was guarding himself.

“Liam…” Louis sighed out and watched his doughy eyed friend shake his head, wipe his nose with the sleeve of his hoodie and leave the kitchen. Soon there was a soft click of a door somewhere and Louis figured he’d gone to the bedroom.

Louis felt like an idiot, just going on about the day like Niall wasn’t charred and blackened and dead under a pile of debris. ‘Wasn’t’ Louis reminded himself, ‘Niall wasn’t’.

“Fuck me.” Louis moaned out in a tone of disbelief at his almost cruel disregard of anyone’s feelings and his nonchalant actions. But this was how Louis coped with things, he couldn’t just break down like Harry or do it internally like Liam did. Louis wasn’t sure if Zayn could cry, he’d never seen it before at least.

“It’s alright Lou, he’s been like that since I got him this morning. Well since he got me anyway.” Zayn piped up taking a drag and Louis watched the smoke curl into the air and bend around Zayn’s bed head and he wondered if Niall saw smoke then ran. He shook off the increasing terrifying thoughts of Niall’s maybe last moments on this earth.

‘Stop it. Niall’s fine. He’s all bright eyes and cheeky smile. Niall’s not gone.’ He thought to himself.

“He got you?” Louis pondered to him as Zayn moved him out of the way saying that he would take over cooking since Louis was absolute shit at it, the young man didn’t argue because he could burn water if you let him.

“Yeah, woke up before six with him pounding on the door, he was in a right state man. I couldn’t understand what he was saying for the first ten minutes then he put on the news and there it was…” Zayn trailed off and grabbed the bin to toss the egg shells in, the one pan had sizzling sausages while the other was soon being filled with eggs.

“Why was he up so early?”

“Beats me, Liam’s always getting up early though.” Zayn shrugged and he heard the distinct sound of someone throwing up and then a flush and what sounded like a moan and whimper combined. Liam was hurling.

“Oh shit, I-fuck! I feel so bad Zee.” He continued smoking and twinged back when the filter got too hot and burned his lip. He felt like a dick cause Niall could have felt something worse and all over his body.

‘Fucking stop.’ Louis thought and asked Zayn for another smoke and if he could get some air. Zayn nodded and as Louis turned to leave, the smell of breakfast now permeating the kitchen to couple with the cig smoke, he grabbed his arm and kissed Louis’ forehead and said to him, “He’s fine, this is Niall we’re talking about.”

“I know Zayn, I know.” He nodded and he was thankful that he and the darkest member of the band were so much alike in personalities in regards to things like this. He believed-or at least tried to-that Niall was okay and thankfully Zayn was on his side.

He stepped out into the misty air and his nipples stiffened and skin prickled at the light dampness swirling around him stories above the street, he had pulled Zayn’s lighter from the pack and lit another of the cancerous sticks and he knew he’d hate how his voice sounded and throat felt the next few days but right now he could give a toss less about that.

No one knew what happened to Niall, Louis thought that was worse than knowing he was truly gone. At least if Niall had died in that fire they could start grieving, Harry would lock himself away, Zayn would disappear, Liam would exercise until he was so exhausted that he’d collapse and Louis would do what he was about to…

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” He screamed out into the morning air, his voice loud and bellowing out into the gray skies and the buildings that dotted the backdrop of it. This is what Louis would do, he’d scream until his throat was raw and his face was red with the veins in his neck bulging near exploding.

He let it out in one fail swoop and heard it echo back against the building from across the way and he felt slightly better, his chest felt a bit emptier and he brought the smoke back to his lips to feel the filter had gotten a bit damp but he sucked on it anyway, his burning lungs now assaulted by the smoke and he coughed but stood firm in smoking it.

He gripped one dripping railing and squeezed the cold metal and continued to smoke, his eyes just scanning the horizon. He stayed silent and listened to the world coming alive below him, he could hear the faint banging of dishes from behind him and when he turned he saw Zayn mulling around the kitchen and setting down a cup of tea in front of Liam who looked even paler than Harry.

Turning back around he lit up the last cigarette and inhaled deeply and blew it out his nose, “Niall James, you had better be okay. I swear to god if something happened to you, I will…” He inhaled the smoke and felt his bottom lip trembling, his walls were breaking and so was he. Louis was collapsing into the chair on the balcony, the cold mist of rain made him shiver but he didn’t care, just wrapped his arms around himself and shakily took another drag.

“Niall pl-please be okay love. Please? You can’t go just yet, we’ve got so much more to do and we can’t do th-that without you, you know that. Niall pl-please just be okay.” He began to sob with his head in his hands, his hair damp from the mist around him. Heart wrenching sobs, ugly cries disfiguring his pixie like features, his lips curled and teeth bared as he cried facing the cement slab of his balcony.

“Niall please!” He wailed louder this time as his body shook and he inhaled a deep breath and spit the taste of tobacco and sleep from his mouth over the balcony, through his tears and hitched breathing he looked up at the sky, “God…or whatever’s up there, I know I don’t do this and I’m not religious at all but pl-please, let Niall be okay. I don’t care about anything else but he needs to be alive, please, I’m begging you.”

His head fell forward again and he took a deep drag of the cigarette in his shaking fingers, he nearly jumped out of his skin hearing a soft, “Lou?” come from near the doorway.

His now bloodshot eyes rose up to be met with Harry’s confused face and chapped bitten lip, his eyes were wet and he had dark circles under them, “Uh y-yeah babe?”

His brows furrowed and his lips pursed slightly and he looked at the burning cigarette in Louis’ hand, “Oh, just when I get…” he trailed off not knowing how to answer that. He would say worried but he had to be strong for Harry and everyone else so he couldn’t be weak right now and let them see him cry even though he just was and it was obvious.

He flicked it over the railing and Harry looked at him puzzling still but walked over and kneeled between Louis’ pajama clad legs that were slightly damp now too, “Lou, come on inside. You’ll get sick out here.”

“Just give me a minute okay? I promise I’ll be inside.” Louis shook his head sending small droplets of water to the cement. Harry simply nodded and kissed his hair leaving a muffled “I love you” buried in the locks. Louis responded and now that Harry had left he felt the cold seep back, Harry warmed him for only a moment and he knew that he would get sick. Standing he looked back out into the sky, “Please Niall…” and he went back inside

XXXX

The rest of the day was quiet. Louis had come in and eaten the breakfast prepared and the only sounds were the clinking of glassware and forks being pushed through food to clang against the ceramic, a soft cough or clearing of the throat as the four boys sat at the kitchen island on the stools.

Zayn was the first finished and he excused himself for a smoke on the balcony, Liam finished second and started to clean up, Louis finished third and offered to help Liam but Harry stopped him and told him to shower to warm himself up and change out of his damp clothes. Louis didn’t argue.

He collapsed in the shower and-cliché as it was-rocked back and forth hugging himself and cried as silently as possible while the warm water washed over him. He must have been in there for quite some time because then there was Harry in the shower with him, soaping him down and offering soft touches and gentle kisses to his shoulders and neck. Harry had cried himself out earlier, now it was his turn to take care of his Louis.

“It’s okay Lou, I’m here.” He kissed his wet shoulder and let his lips graze up his throat to offer tender care that Louis needed-he’d never admit to it but he needed Harry in the most delicate of ways like this.

“I know Haz, I know. But what happened to him? Where is he?” He asked with a hiccup, he felt so small right now and not only because Harry dwarfed him but also because he didn’t know what happened to his blond friend, the bright cheeky one in the group. Louis of course loved all his boys, they were his brothers-yeah Harry was a bit more than that but still-and it was his duty to protect them, keep them safe, much like he did with his sisters.

But now he couldn’t, he wasn’t there, he had no idea what had happened to Niall and his mind wouldn’t stay quiet, just in a constant repetition of ‘what if’ and ‘where’ and ‘how’. Soon the two shivered at the water that had long since gone cold and Harry actually carried Louis to the bedroom and set him on the ground gently, he toweled them both off and brought out Louis’ favorite jumper-which was actually Harry’s and slipped it over his head.

They dressed in baggy sweats and entered the living room to see Liam and Zayn sitting cross legged around the coffee table with two large bottles of liquor and a carton of cigarettes near them. Louis’ raised one eyebrow while Liam asked Harry if he could borrow a change of clothes to get out of his onesie, the two broad chested boys left the room as Zayn answered Louis’ silent question, “Popped to the shop, figured we might as well get twisted and chain smoke instead of sitting here in silence.”

He pulled the lid from a bottle of rum and chugged it straight, his eyes closed in disgust and Louis watched as his adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. He brought the bottle back from his lips and wiped his mouth, “Ahh, that’ll put some hair on your chest.”

He pushed over the bottle as Zayn lit up a cigarette and pulled out a glass dish-that was supposed to be for candy-and set it in the center of the table, “Before you say anything, I’m not getting up every five minutes to smoke alone. I’ll pay for the damn cleaners to get the smell out.”

Louis giggled and brought the bottle to his mouth and let the burning liquid run down his esophagus and Zayn handed him a smoke right after it. The older gladly obliged and Louis, with lit cigarette in hand, went to the fridge to get sodas to chase the liquor and came back to see Harry with another confused look on his face looking at Louis, Liam in the same sort of outfit they were in, “Babe, what’s with the smoking?” his deep voice rumbled through.

Liam was curled into Zayn’s side and the darker one was absentmindedly rubbing his thumb across the boy’s bicep, “Nothing love, just until we know Niall’s alright okay? I just…I just need something to do.”

He set the bottles of sodas on the table and uncapped one to take a swig, Harry huffed out a breath and walked away, “The least we could do is drink from glasses Louis.” he scoffed out. Louis rolled his eyes in response and he was thankful for the somewhat lightness of the situation now. It weighed heavily throughout the ever smoke filling air, but now it wasn’t as bad as it was this morning, Louis looked at his phone that was left on the table from the night before to see it was only around noon at this point. Fuck it.

Harry came back and set down four glasses-on coasters of course-and poured each of them a drink, Liam took cherry Coke while Louis and Zayn had Sprite, Harry with regular Coke and the afternoon went on. More alcohol was downed and half a carton was smoked between Louis and Zayn alone with them all passing the bottle back and forth and of course the topic was Niall.

What had happened to his house, what had happened to him, where he could be and was he alright? Louis and Zayn were adamant in saying Niall was fine and somehow he escaped while Harry pointed out that his car was still in the drive. Liam agreed but then Louis had brought up the fact that in his panic Niall probably just ran and didn’t think to grab his keys.

Zayn concurred with this and stated that Niall was known for losing his keys and he couldn’t exactly be arsed to look for them could he? The three agreed. The liquor was drank then chased and the four were well beyond tipsy at only half past five. That’s when Louis spoke up.

“I miss him already.” He half whispered out and the atmosphere in the room changed to something dark that matched the sky outside.

“Me too, I wish he was here.” Liam piped up sipping on his drink, they had foregone the shots and just started making mixers by this point.

“He’ll be back soon you guys, don’t worry.” Zayn spoke almost cheerfully with a drunken grin but his eyes were sad, Louis could tell, and the boy pulled Liam in for a quick peck to his temple.

Then the room was quiet, the four lost in their own heads until Harry’s sniffle alerted them to him, “Haz?” Louis asked him softly and placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Ha, remember the time we pantsed him in McDonald’s when he was ordering and he didn’t even stop to pull them up?”

The three giggled, “Oh my god! I forgot about that! Remember when he farted on that plane to Germany and all of first class left?”

Then the laughter started to roar.

They swapped stories and memories of the years past that were all starring the Irish member of their band and after a while the laughter died down, the stories got quieter, the meanings behind them more solemn and closer to home. Liam spoke first, “I miss him.”

“Me too.” Harry mumbled out and picked up the empty soda and liquor bottles from the table and stumbled his way into the kitchen and came back to see Liam was dozing on Zayn’s shoulder and Louis’ head was back on the chair behind him.

“Come on you guys, let’s just get some sleep alright, Zayn, Li, you two can have the spare room.” He wobbled over to offer a hand to Louis who protested going to bed since it was still so early but Harry stayed stern since they had only had lunch-they ordered loads of greasy Chinese-and then topped that with more booze and the four needed sleep, especially since they didn’t have much from the night before.

“But m’not ti-tired.” Louis protested but Harry shook his head at him and began walking him to the bedroom, then there was a ringing from behind them. Liam called them back, “Lou! Your phone’s going off.”

Louis turned from Harry’s grip and swayed over to where his phone was held in Liam’s hand and saw that Paul was calling, he figured it was probably asking about if he had heard any news about Niall yet and the brief moment of peace he had was gone and Louis was brought back to a sobering reality.

Zayn was halfway down the hallway not paying any attention with Liam right behind him, Harry of course was standing next to Louis, a bit too close, so the older pushed him away, “Hello?”

“Lou, it’s me. I need you to come to Mercy hospital right now.”

Louis’ heart sank. They found Niall.

He gulped, “Um okay? Why, is everything alright?”

He heard a heavy sigh, the Paul sigh he had trademarked working for the boys, “We’re not sure, we need you to identify someone.”

Louis moved away from Harry and began to put on his shoes and threw on a coat with Harry silently following along. He stopped and pulled the phone away, “Harry what are you doing?”

“M’coming with you wherever you’re going. You’re drunk and I don’t want you to get hurt.” He shrugged as if it was obvious. He heard Paul sort of holler, “No! Only you Louis. No one else. You’re the only one I want down here, I don’t want the other three to get how they get.”

Louis nodded even though he knew Paul couldn’t see him and he knew why Paul only wanted him. Louis was the “leader” so to speak, they both knew that this would raise their hopes. Harry would be devastated if whoever they were trying to identify was or wasn’t him, Liam would fly off the handle and Zayn would disappear for an extended period of time. Louis was the only one capable to handle this.

“Harry stay here.”

“But Lou I-“

“Harry! Stay. Here.” He commanded and he saw Harry visibly shrink and look like a scolded kitten, if he had those big ears they’d be down on his head right now. He quickly moved over and kissed his forehead, “I’ve got to take care of something, stay here with the boys. Don’t let anything happen.”

He wanted to get his keys but he was too intoxicated and the mixture of emotions he was feeling he was worried he’d be a danger on the roads so instead he kipped his wallet and made for a taxi. Down on the street he hailed a cab and nearly forgot Paul was on the phone, “Why did you need me to come down? You’ve looked at Niall almost as long as we have.”

Paul sighed again, “They won’t let me in, they said they needed a family member. I want to make sure this is him though so I figured you pose as his brother.”

“Paul, how can they not let you in if they don’t even know who he is?”

“I have no idea, when I saw what happened to his house I called all the hospitals giving his description and this was the only one who had someone fitting it. Said that a John Doe was brought in with severe burns and when I got here asking to see him, they said no cause I wasn’t family.”

“And how the fuck would they know that if they don’t even know who he is?” He rolled his eyes in the back of the cab that would have him at the hospital in ten minutes.

“Hospital policy or something. I need you to use your acting skills and identify him. It has to be him Louis, has to. How many people fitting his description get brought in with burns right after his house goes up? Has to be him.”

Louis nodded then remembered that Paul couldn’t see him, “Alright, I’ll be there shortly. I’ll figure out what to say.” And he hung up and looked out the window to the now darkened skies and whispered, “Thank you.”

He wasn’t sure who he was talking to but if his little prayer in the rain earlier had anything to do with this then he was sure as fuck thankful.

XXXX

Louis rushed into the lobby and was met with Paul swiftly getting up from his seat, he waved him down because Louis had this, he approached the desk, “Excuse me, I heard that a young man was brought in here not too long ago, a burn victim. I’d like to see him please.”

The nurse looked up, wiry gray hair and plump build, “What’s his name deary?”

“Well I know what his name is but you have him as unidentified, I came down here to identify him.”

“Oh yes, that young man. What’s his relation to you?”

“Brother, he’s my younger brother.”

“Is that so? Well how do you know if that is in fact your brother if you haven’t actually seen him?” She asked rather snarky and Louis wondered why there was so much shit to go through to identify someone. He wondered if it was hospital policy or this nurse was just an old cunt who liked to mess with people.

Louis scowled at her, “I’ll tell you how. My little brother’s house went up in flames this morning, you have a person fitting his description, pale skin, around 5’10, 160 pounds brought in for severe burns. I haven’t been able to reach him, went by his house and it’s nothing but rubble. You do the math.”

She eyed him warily with one eyebrow raised, “What color are his eyes?”

“Blue like mine. Family thing.” He said proudly even thought their eyes were different kinds of blue and he even put a finger up to pull down on his socket. “Listen, that’s my brother now let me see him.”

“Very well.” She buzzed him through, he turned to Paul and gave him a double thumbs up and was met with another nurse, this one much younger and kinder, “Ahh you’re here to identify that boy yes?”

“Yes I am, may I ask why it’s been so difficult for people to come back here? Our bod-friend-was trying to but they wouldn’t let him.” He almost outed Paul as their bodyguard and he was thankful but not that their celebrity status hadn’t been noticed. It was either dumb luck no one recognized them or the fact that Louis sure didn’t look like himself that made it impossible to know, he could only imagine how someone didn’t know what Niall looked like. That made his blood quicken cause what could have happened to Niall to make him unidentifiable?

“That’s just Gladys, she’s a right bitch. I would’ve let that nice man come through.” She smiled to him and brought him through winding hallways to a room where the only thing making a sound was the beeping of the heart monitor. He saw a body laying in the bed, half of the person’s face covered in white bandages, his chest and right arm much the same. The rest was bare except for the blankets covering him up to his chest.

He approached the bed and saw that the boy in the bed had an oxygen mask over his mouth and the only thing really visible was his left arm and where his eye was, “Your brother was it? He got very lucky. He’s had some pretty bad burns to the back of him and part of his head, thankfully his face is okay, just some minor damage. His lungs got hit hard though with all the smoke.” She informed him.

He gingerly picked up the person’s left hand and felt the familiar callousness of it, he felt like Niall.

“How did he get here? His car was still in the drive.” He spoke to her but not taking his eyes of the person’s face, with how little was shown well…he looked like Niall.

“Someone came in and dropped him off. Said they had been driving by and saw a large house on fire and ran in and found him on the floor. They had said that once they had removed him from it that the whole place caved in. He’s very lucky someone was out there and got him when they did. So are you sure this is your brother then love?” She asked sweetly. Louis was pretty positive it was Niall but he had to make sure.

He leaned in close, “Niall? Is that you? It’s Louis mate, come on Ni, is that you?”

He felt a squeeze to his hand and the one uncovered eye fluttered open and blue met blue. It was him.

Louis burst into tears, “Yes! It’s him! Niall oh god!” He fell onto his friend’s chest and heard the boy hiss and his body react.

“Oh shit! I’m so sorry!” He pleaded out and Niall actually giggled a bit, it was raspy and weak but that was definitely him. Most definitely Niall.

“H-hey Lou.” He offered a small smile under the mask and Louis could hear the rasp in his lungs.

Louis wiped the tears from his eyes and the nurse sniffled slightly behind him, “So-sorry. M’just glad it’s him, we were all worried he had nobody. So uh, what’s his name?”

“It’s Niall Horan.” Louis said to her and rubbed his fingers across Niall’s knuckles.

“Niall Horan? Wait…from-“

“Yeah that’s him. Sorry to lie about being his brother love.” He wetly chuckled out and the nurse’s eyes went wide.

“You’re Louis Tomlinson!”

“Haha, yes I am.”

“Oh my! I love you guys! I-oh sorry, sorry. Okay, I’ll get this all settled then. Niall, I’m a real big fan and I’m so happy you’re doing alright.” And she left wiping her eyes and definite pep in her step.

“Think someone fancies you mate.” Louis said down to his friend and pulled up a chair.

“She is pretty, maybe I should be in hospital more often.” He joked out then coughed-more like hacked.

“Niall don’t you even joke about that. We were worried sick mate. Harry didn’t stop crying for hours.”

“Shit, is everything alright though?” He asked and winced sitting himself up and using his bandaged elbow to get comfortable. The dull throb of pain was present in his damaged palm.

“Yeah, as alright as it could be. The boys are at ours right now, Paul called me to come identify you. Niall I was so scared…” He trailed off and began to cry again with his head on the bed. Niall shushed him and let his damaged hand run through his hair.

“S’alright Lou, I’m okay now.”

Later on Louis brought Paul back who did actually tear up a little, he thought of the boys as his sons more than anything. Then Niall told the two of them what had happened. How the fire was intense and the pain of being burned-Louis’ breath hitched quite a few times during those parts-and how he had passed out on the floor.

The next thing he remembered was being carried by someone, someone tall and had to be strong enough to lift dead weight from the ground, he vaguely remembered their face. It was definitely a man, he had dark eyes and short hair with a broad chest and he smelled like aftershave. The next thing he remembered was seeing streetlights through a window in the back seat of a car, his back was burning and tender as the upholstery rubbed him raw and the next thing he knew there was bright lights and the smell of cleaners and he was being put under.

The next time he awoke he couldn’t talk, his throat was so raw from the smoke that he was put under again and given more oxygen. The nurses informed him he’d been in hospital for about twelve hours at this point and they tried to get a name from him but he couldn’t speak, his vocal chords trying to repair themselves. Apparently he had no ID when he was brought in as well.

Afterwards, Niall had told both Paul and Louis that he was exhausted and his throat really hurt and he didn’t want to talk anymore and the two left him to fall asleep again with the oxygen and painkillers filling his body. Louis stopped to talk to the nurse that had helped him before-he even signed an autograph for her and promised the rest of the boys would too-and asked about Niall’s condition.

Thankfully she had said that his voice would come back to normal, it would take a bit of time though due to the smoke damage, his burns to his back and thighs would leave some scarring but it wouldn’t be too drastic, he had lost some of his hair and burned his scalp in the fire but those would heal quickly since they were only first degree.

Niall really had dodged a bullet this time.

Paul took Louis home, Louis in tears of elation the whole time and upon entering his home saw Harry sitting on the couch. Louis had been gone for nearing five hours and it was well past midnight now. He took in Louis’ weeping form and sprung towards him, “Lou? What’s happened?”

“I was at the hospital.” He hiccupped out and wiped his eyes. Harry’s face paled.

“He’s okay! Niall’s okay!” And Louis collapsed to the ground. Harry began to cry too with his arms wrapped around his boyfriend’s shaking form.

Liam and Zayn came out shortly afterwards wondering what all the commotion was, they were told the same and Liam started to cry as Zayn smiled and held him and the four all coped with the good news with each other by their sides.

XXXX

Two months later they were back on stage, Niall’s voice had come back full force, his wounds had healed. He didn’t really much like the scars on his back but everyone else did, he got not so innocent tweets and messages of how very sexy they made him, more manly and rugged.

Every show afterwards, Niall thanked whoever it was that saved him from his burning home. At one particular show he did his usual thank you.

“As you all know a few months back me house caught on fire. I lost basically everything but that doesn’t really matter. All that was replaced. What I couldn’t replace is me life and by some miracle, some stranger saved it. Whoever he is and wherever he is, thank you so much mate. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be here with my four best friends and doing what I love. Thank you so much, whoever you are!”

And as the music started up and their set began, somewhere in the back, a tall man with short hair whispered out, “You’re welcome Niall.”


End file.
